Saturday, December 30, 2006

At 6am Iraqi local time, the former dictator Saddam Hussein was executed after being sentenced to death by hanging. Hussein has dominated Iraq with an iron fist for nearly 25 years. His regime ended after the U.S.-led coalition attacked Iraq. Bush said that the execution “is an important milestone on Iraq’s course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain and defend itself” (NY Times).

I must fully disagree with this statement. Hussein’s death has nothing to do with the stability the implementation of democracy in Iraq. He has been locked up for years now and has had no influence on the Iraqi people… or anyone else for that matter. The logic as to how his demise will help end the violence in Iraq escapes me. I think he should not be killed… locked up for life yes, but not executed. His death will only spark more violence and more attacks, and it is the civilians who suffer the most. Even if Hussein has killed thousands of people, his death cannot be justified, if it is going to cause hundreds of other deaths.

The execution is more a spectacle than a punishment that is going to be used as a sort of justification for attacking Iraq. Since the U.S. could not establish democracy in the country… this is second best thing it can give it: the death of a former dictator. It seems that they are trying to present the death of Hussein as the end of a violent era for Iraq… which means that the time of peace, stability and democracy can now be begin. But begin it will not. At least not soon. The Bush administration will milk this “step toward democracy” as long as is possible, or at least until the next best thing comes along. But everyone knows it… Iraq is a disaster and there is no easy way to repair it. Saddam Hussein’s death sure isn’t going to.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Lately the UN has voted that Iran must be sanctioned for its pursuit to enrich uranium. Of course Tehran has been claiming that they intend to use the uranium for peaceful purposes and not for the development of weapons. But it is hard to trust such promises when they come from a country ruled by a president that not only calls for the destruction of Israel, but also denies that the holocaust ever happened. The Iranian president Ahmadinejad soon responded that it would be the Security Council that would regret this step and not Iran.

Let’s analyze the situation. If indeed Iran is planning on using the uranium for civilian use, there is of course no problem. But what happens if Iran actually becomes a nuclear force? Then the situation gets much more complicated. Then there are two forces in the Middle East who have nuclear capabilities, the second being Israel. This is troubling because Ahmadinejad has vowed to wipe the Jewish state of the face of the earth.And with a nuclear warhead that threat may become reality. And with an attack retaliation from Israel is expected. Picture the Cold war without the thousands of miles between the two countries. Because that is exactly what will happen. Iran and Israel will be like the USSR and the US. Except it this case it is not sure whether the Cuban crisis will remain nothing more then a crisis.

Even if no attack occurs, Iran will have a very powerful bargaining tool for future negotiation. A political analyst from Slovenia once said that Iran should have nuclear capabilities, because without them, it cannot fairly debate with countries that have the A-bomb. While that may be true, a country that issues threats of destruction to other states is not one that should be trusted with such a responsibility: because of the slight possibility that it may use it for violent purposes. That is the reason why the UN must nip this problem in the bud, before it gets to that critical point. Because the next Cold war may be as hot as the sun itself.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

The students of FDV have a forum at www.ssfdv.org. Now this is a great thing, because its a place where the students can go and socialize online and exchange views and find out things. But there is one thing that is wrong with it. Actually the problem is more with the students that visit it. Some students post questions about exams, seminar papers and similar things. I know, because I did the same thing a couple of times.Now sometimes you get the correct answer to what you need, then again sometimes you get a myriad of different answers. What I wanted to say is don't ask things that are vital to the course and continuation of your study. Call the faculty, call the professor, or even better, if you have the chance to, go to the professor and find out the things that interest you... you cant miss that way. Do not put your trust into others (especially students), find things out for yourself. It is the only way to be sure that the info you are getting is correct and reliable. Unless you are totally sure that the student is reliable and trustworthy. Do not be gullible.Example:For a particular exam last year, a script was posted on the forum. And of course it seemed pretty good, so a lot of people studied from that script and skipped all the books and other references given by the professor. The number of people who failed the exam was staggering. Until the third try, the professor came to the exam and said: "I heard that a lot of you are studying from a script, well let me tell you its all wrong, so if you studied from the script for this exam, too bad... you are going to fail." Now I think what the professor said is totally correct. Instead of going to him after the first time they failed, people continued to study from the flawed script. I was among those student. Now I call the professors, or I go to them before the exam, because I want to be sure that what I am studying is right, that I am doing my seminar paper correctly, to check the date when the paper is due and a number of other things. They wont mind... whats more, they will appreciate the effort you put into preparing for whatever it is you are preparing for.

This is my blog... as you are surely aware by now. The point of my blog is to present interesting,shocking and important stuff that goes on in FDV (this is my university), Slovenia (which is my country) and beyond (this is of course international news).I have decided on creating this blog because it gives me an excuse to follow the things that go on around me, to follow the news and write about it all. This will be a great addition in my resume (CV), so I can at least be a reporter if my political career goes down the drain. Which I hope will not.Students in Slovenia are having a great time. But it seems to me that this will not be going on much longer. More and more it seems that the current government is ganging against us. They are taxing student work, taking away our privileges and so on. I will be reporting about this too, because it seems that no one is. Neither are the organizations that are supposed to be representing us. We (and those organizations) must take notice of the things the politicians are doing, because many of the decisions that do not affects us now, may affect us in the future.Even the world itself is changing at a pace that is mind blowing. Its very hard to keep up. In order to keep up, we must run like never before and follow more news then we ever have. I will try and help you out.As for why this blog is in English: because I am covering world news too, so its not meant only for Slovenes, but for everyone. You never know... people might want to know whats going on in Slovenia.So there you go... we are done with the introduction... enjoy my blog and please comment :)